A multifaceted film about two English working class girls (Teresa and Elaine) and two Russian sailors (Peter and Sergei).
In the first half two couples spent a night together. Teresa and Sergei go for the plain vanilla one night stand. Elaine and Peter keep it Platonic, but in so doing get to know each other much better. After all it is Elaine who has the hardest time when the sailors have to get back on board again.
The second half revolves around the relationship of the two friends Elaine and Teresa. This relationship has much in common with the relationship between Elin and Agnes in "Show me love" (1998, Lukas Moodysson). Teresa (Elin) does have the bigger mouth, but Elaine (Agnes) is the one with more guts.
Between the lines the second half is also a little bit of a political satire. There are more films in which romances are disturbed by "big politics" ("The unbearable lightness of being", 1988, Philip Kaufman), but a romance resulting in a girl contemplating an emigration to the Soviet Union is quite new.
In this respect the film is very characteristic of the 80s. The Cold war was passed his prime, in fact (with hinsight) the Soviet Union was nearly dead. On the other hand in England it was the time of the Thatcher years with budget cuts that did hit the Northern part of England (the movie plays in Liverpool) disproportionately hard.
Just like in "Show me love" there is one scene in "Letter to Brezhnev" that is very characteristic of the relation between the two friends. In "Show me love" the relation between Elin and Agnes is defined in the "toilet scene". In "Letter to Brezhnev" the bar scene is equally important. On a given moment Elaine is captivated by doubt if she should go to Russia. She goes outside to make up her mind. When she comes back she orders two wodka's for Teresa and herself. She has made a decision!
In the first half two couples spent a night together. Teresa and Sergei go for the plain vanilla one night stand. Elaine and Peter keep it Platonic, but in so doing get to know each other much better. After all it is Elaine who has the hardest time when the sailors have to get back on board again.
The second half revolves around the relationship of the two friends Elaine and Teresa. This relationship has much in common with the relationship between Elin and Agnes in "Show me love" (1998, Lukas Moodysson). Teresa (Elin) does have the bigger mouth, but Elaine (Agnes) is the one with more guts.
Between the lines the second half is also a little bit of a political satire. There are more films in which romances are disturbed by "big politics" ("The unbearable lightness of being", 1988, Philip Kaufman), but a romance resulting in a girl contemplating an emigration to the Soviet Union is quite new.
In this respect the film is very characteristic of the 80s. The Cold war was passed his prime, in fact (with hinsight) the Soviet Union was nearly dead. On the other hand in England it was the time of the Thatcher years with budget cuts that did hit the Northern part of England (the movie plays in Liverpool) disproportionately hard.
Just like in "Show me love" there is one scene in "Letter to Brezhnev" that is very characteristic of the relation between the two friends. In "Show me love" the relation between Elin and Agnes is defined in the "toilet scene". In "Letter to Brezhnev" the bar scene is equally important. On a given moment Elaine is captivated by doubt if she should go to Russia. She goes outside to make up her mind. When she comes back she orders two wodka's for Teresa and herself. She has made a decision!